The Philippines says it expected nine Filipino mariners held by the Houthis since July attack to be released in Yemen.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels released mariners held since a July attack on a cargo ship in the Red Sea, an assault that killed at least four on board and sank the vessel.
The Houthis, who have targeted ships during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, said via their Al Masirah TV news channel that Oman had taken custody of the seamen, who were flying to the sultanate on Wednesday.
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Oman did not immediately acknowledge the release. However, a Royal Oman Air Force jet landed earlier Wednesday in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, according to flight-tracking data. Following the Houthi announcement, the plane was tracked leaving Yemeni airspace.
The Philippines said on Tuesday that it expected nine Filipino mariners held by the Houthis since the attack to be released. The Foreign Ministry in Manila described the seamen as being “held hostage by the Houthis” since the July attack.
The Houthis offered no immediate breakdown on the nationalities of those released. It described their forces as rescuing the men after they abandoned the crippled ship following the attack.
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Al Masirah on Wednesday published an image of six of the men, without expressions, wearing the black-and-white checkered keffiyeh scarf often associated with the Palestinians.
The attack on the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Eternity C also left 11 people missing.
The Houthis have targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones in their campaign, sinking four vessels. The attacks have killed at least nine mariners after a crew member on board one of the vessels targeted, the Minervagracht, died of his wounds in October.
The Houthis have held seamen for months in the past, and it was not immediately clear why they released the mariners now.
The Houthis stopped their attacks on the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during an earlier ceasefire in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. They later became the target of a weeks-long campaign of air strikes ordered by US President Donald Trump before he declared a truce had been reached with the rebels.
The current Gaza ceasefire has again seen the Houthis hold their fire.
